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Monday, October 17, 2011

Today is my 13th wedding anniversary. I can hardly believe it's been that long. I'm so thankful for every year we've had together.

Here's a picture of us on that lovely fall day. Yes, that is a strap hanging out of the sleeve of my dress. No, nobody told me it was there. All day long. Had I known it was showing, I would have cut it out of the dress. It was one of those ribbons used to keep a garment on the hanger, so it wasn't even necessary at that point. Oh, well.

Would you like to know how we met? Really, you would?

A little background. I graduated from college in 1992 and went back to West Virginia where I began teaching at my church's Christian school. I taught there until 1996 when I returned to South Carolina to work on my master's degree. During my time in WV, everyone I know tried to fix me up with a fella, someone they knew from work, a guy who went to their cousin's church...you get the picture.

So I was done with being set up. I knew God had a special man for me, and He'd bring him into my life when He was ready. On my first Saturday back in SC, I attended a bridal shower for a dear friend. At the shower I met a lady who found out I was single. She honed in on me like a heat-seeking missile. When she told me she had a son who was close to my age, I laughed. What was wrong with this guy that he needed his mom to find him a girl? Besides that, he lived in south Georgia, so I'd never see him. She finally got me to agree to respond if he emailed me first.

She immediately went home and called her son. She told him she'd found the perfect girl for him. And guess what he did? Exactly what I did - he laughed. But he did agree to email me to placate his mom. He had no intention of anything beyond that. I guess it wasn't the first time his mother had found the perfect girl. Ha ha!

So he emailed me. And asked me to get his mom off his back. I thought his email was snippy, though it was a bit humorous, so I responded in kind - a little humor, a little snip. And for some reason it got his interest. He emailed again. And again.

After a month of emailing, he wanted to meet me in person. So he drove up from Georgia to visit his parents. We all went to Biltmore in Asheville, NC, for the day. We wandered the halls of that huge mansion and talked and talked. I found myself really liking him and he liked me. But to admit his mom was right? Ahhhh, that would take a little longer.

So, I was hand-picked by his mom. And Charles claims we met on the internet. I guess he's correct in that our first conversations took place via email. And you want to know something really sweet? He saved copies of those emails. I guess he knew from the beginning we were something special.